| Azlan Othman |
THE 17th Asean Telecommunications and Senior Officials Meeting (TELSOM) and Related Meetings continued yesterday which saw meetings attended by senior officers from the Republic of Korea, officials from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the European Union and senior officials from India.
The 17th TELSOM is being held at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Berakas and chaired by Haji Azhar bin Haji Ahmad, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications.
The 16th Asean Telecommunications and IT Ministers meeting (TELMIN) will start today where meetings between China, Japan and the Republic of Korea will be held.
Meanwhile, officials who attended the Asean TELSOM+Republic of Korea (ROK) meeting were briefed on the Asean-ROK ICT Partnership activities in 2016, which among others included expansion of new technology and services, capacity building and knowledge sharing, ICT infrastructure enhancement, as well as cooperation with international organisations on AP-IS broadband development; women empowerment through ICT and the development of mobile applications.
According to a press release, both sides also exchanged views on possible areas of cooperation in which Asean and ROK can collaborate in. This included projects related to connectivity, innovation, Internet of Things, human resource development, Big Data as well as Green ICT. The Asean TELSOM supported the proposed 2017 Asean-ROK ICT Work Plan, and welcome to further extend cooperation under Asean-Korea ICT partnership 2017-2021 in line with the strategic thrusts of Asean ICT Masterplan 2020.
The meeting thanked the Republic of Korea on the proposed new key areas of cooperation, and reiterated their support for ongoing projects and collaborations.
The Asean TELSOM then met with the delegation from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Haji Azhar bin Haji Ahmad (L), Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications, chairing the meeting yesterday. – AZLAN OTHMAN
The officials were briefed on areas of joint ITU and Asean cooperation and activities implemented in 2016. These included the development of an Asean Strategy Framework on Child Online Protection as well as an ITU-Asean Forum on Child Online Protection.
The delegation from the ITU then briefed the Asean TELSOM on proposed Asean-ITU joint activities in 2017. Among the proposed areas for future cooperation were further development of the ITU-Asean Child Online Protection Strategy Framework and projects for joint collaboration on Smart Cities.
Both sides expressed their support for potential areas and joint activities of cooperation between Asean and ITU at both regional and global levels, especially to support Asean in the implementation of the Asean ICT Masterplan 2020 (AIM2020). The delegation from the ITU highlighted the linkage between AIM2020 and ITU’s Connect 2020 Agenda, with four key targets identified by the ITU corresponding closely to AIM2020’s Strategic Thrusts.
The delegation from the ITU also highlighted the recent signing of the Asean-ITU MoU on Joint Cooperation in ICT Development in November 2015 during the 15th Asean TELMIN in Da Nang, Vietnam, the press release said.
The meeting concluded with all Asean member states expressing their appreciation to the ITU for their on-going support to Asean, especially in supporting the initiatives of the Asean ICT Masterplan, and looked forward to further deepening Asean-ITU friendship and cooperation in the future.
The Asean TELSOM also met with a delegation from the European Union (EU). During the meeting, the EU delegation was briefed on the launch of the AIM2020 at the 15th TELMIN in November 2015. AIM 2020 serves as a roadmap for TELSOM to achieve the intended visions and outcomes to improve Asean ICT development for the next five years. The Asean TELSOM therefore welcomes joint collaboration projects between the EU and Asean in the implementation of AIM2020.
The EU delegation then briefed the meeting on the status of the EU Digital single market initiative, as well as on the enhanced EU-Asean Dialogue instrument for Development Cooperation.
The EU Digital single market initiative is a strategy aimed at ensuring free movement of persons, services and capital and where the individuals and businesses can seamlessly access and exercise online activities under conditions of fair competition, and a high level of consumer and personal data protection, irrespective of their nationality or place of residence.
The meeting was also briefed on the proposed Asean-EU joint activities in 2017. Both sides exchanged views on potential areas of cooperation between Asean and EU, at both regional and global level to support Asean in the implementation of Asean ICT Masterplan 2020 and the implementation of the ICT initiatives under E-READI programme.
Among the possible areas of mutual interest were the development of a consultative approach on Over The Top (OTT) service providers, developing guides and apps for Open Data and Big Data, reducing development disparities and affordability of broadband access as well as developing best practices for local content development and Smart Cities.
The 17th Asean TELSOM concluded with the delegates considering and adopting the Report of the 17th Asean TELSOM, which will be endorsed by the 16th Asean Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministers Meeting (16th TELMIN), which will commence on Friday November 25.
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